Railroad-crossing



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. MGKENNA.

RAILROAD CROSSING.

No. 859,089. Patented Mar. 8, 1887.

pVz'znessesx [7421614107 8 W (707272 fly (No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2. J.MQKENNA.

RAILROAD CROSSING.

Patented M21128, 1887.

lzz's Attorney.

IJ'NiTEn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.IOHN MCKENN A, OF JOHNSTOVVN, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILROAD-CROSSING.

EPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 359,089, dated March 8,1887.

Application tiled October 14, 1886. Serial No. 216,205. (No niodolJ Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MCKENNA, acitizen of the United States,residing at Johnstown, in the county of Oambria and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailroad-Grossings5 and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to railroadcrossings. Heretofore these havegenerally been constructed from a cast plate, or from the railsthemselves crossed one into the other and bolted together bysplice-bars. Considerable difficulty is always experienced in makingcrossings in either of these ways, and especially when the angles areparticular ones, as they usually are.

The object of the present invention is to supply a railroadcrossingwhich shall be strong and durable, and which shall be composed of partsof such form that they may be produced by machinery, thus allowing theparts to be made interchangeable, if desired. Furthermore, the object isto supply a railroad-crossing so constructed that the parts may bequickly and easily adjusted to adaptthemselves to any angle at which itmay be desired that the rails shall cross each other.

WVith these objects in view myinvention resides, essentially, in arailroad-crossing consisting of a base-plate capable of being firmlysecured to the sleepers or embedded in the ground and having attached toit adjustable brackets upon which rest the ends of the rails forming thetracks which cross each other.

Furthermore, the invention resides in a railroad-crossing consisting,essentially, in a base and an upper plateprovided with ridges formingcontinuations of the adjacent rails, the base being; provided withadjustable projections or brackets, which form supports for the ends ofadjacent rails.

The invention consists, finally, in a base having a circular groovecapable of receiving and holding the head of a bolt or theheads of boltsin combination with a bracket or with brackets held by a bolt or bybolts, whereby the brackets are made adjustable.

I have illustrated the invention in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 1s a plan view of a crossing constructedin aecordance with myinvent-ion. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, and Fig. 3 is a verticalsection.

In these drawings, A represents the base of the crossing, which isprovided at the bottom with a flange, a, through holes in which may bepassed bolts for securing the base either to sleepers or to any otherpiece of wood or other suitable material embedded in the ground. It isprovided at the top with a flange, a, to which is secured, by screws orbolts, atop plate, upon which the wheels bear.

A represents brackets the inner ends of which are of such shape as toconform to that part of the base against which they bear. The upperportions, a of these brackets are pro vided with sockets for thereception of the ends of rails adjacent to the crossing.

The preferred means of attaching is by the bolts A, which project fromthe base, pass through depending portions of the brackets, and have nutsupon their outer ends to bind the bracket to the sides of the base.

In order that the brackets may be capable of being placed in suchrelation to the base as to enable a crossing of any desired angle to bemade, the bolts are rendered capable of being moved around the base.This is accomplished by inserting the head of the bolt into a groove, aformed in the base. This groove is T- shaped, or of other suitable form,and theinner portion is of such size as to hold the heads of the boltsemployed in such manner as to prevent their turning; A space, (6.sufficiently large to allow the insertion of the heads of the bolts, andwhich communicates with the groove, is provided upon one side of thebase. The heads of the bolts utilized to attach the brackets areinserted into this and the bolts are then moved around to the desiredplace.

B represents the upper or face plate, which is attached to the base byscrews or bolts Z). This plate is grooved in such manner as to formridges b, which serveas continuations of the rails If. The grooves areprovided with raised portions 1) near the point of intersection in suchmanner as to raise the wheels passing over the same and avoid sharpcontact with the angles formed by the grooves.

From the foregoing it will be clear that the brackets which connect thebase of the crossing and the adjacent rails may be moved to any desiredposition, producing a crossing of whatever angle may be formed by theintersecting rails, and allowing the use of one construction of deviceinall situations. The only part necessarily of special construction is theface-plate, and this may be cast or otherwise made to conform exactly tothe angle at which the rails cross each other after this angle has beenascertained.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is if 1. A railroad-crossing consisting of thebase provided with adjustable brackets for receiving and sustaining theends of adjacent rails, substantially as described.

2. A railroad-crossing consisting of a base 20 JOHN MOKENNA;

Witnesses:

STEPHEN QUIRK, GEORGE H. BROWN.

